SITE REVIEW: CRMSoft.com

jai

Novice

Posts: 20

3+ Months Ago

Hello world!

i need comments on CRMSoft. i really really need your expertise and all your creative juices on this. please give your constructive criticism on the site. be as cruel as you can, i need all the criticism i could get

thanks

righteous_trespasser

Scuffle

Posts: 6231

Loc: South-Africa

3+ Months Ago

First things first ... I think it would be good if you move the content to the middle of the page, instead of the left hand side ...

on the news page there is an image missing ... it's alt tag says "jai", and how do I get back to the other pages from the news page, I don't see any links ...

CXLink

Expert

Posts: 685

Loc: ATL-GA

3+ Months Ago

Is this the redesigned site or the site you want to redesign? Other then doing the center align thing like RT suggested I like the look and feel.

webia

Graduate

Posts: 147

Loc: Romania

3+ Months Ago

The general idea is that the website looks very professional, very corporate.
It has a very good structure, you find easily what you are looking for. What I do not like though is that default blue color for links. try to figure out some other color.

I suppose you have a lot of traffic, so you should consider switching to XHTML to decrease traffic costs, and make the website load faster.

A small detail I really like to corporate sites these days is a website icon, which you do not have.

Prime

Professor

Posts: 934

Loc: Liverpool

3+ Months Ago

Hey,

I'm assuming this is the site you are about to redesign so, as requested i'm going be critical ... please don't hate me just trying to help ...

1. Don't use a table driven layout, amateur. CSS is far more powerful.
2. The flash logo with grass, weeds and yellow thingys flying across the screen ... what's that all about 3. Create a proper XML sitemap as per Google/MSN/Yahoo specification
4. Develop using an MVC framework not OO
5. Turn your news page into an RSS feed.
6. Use 'A' records for your sub domains
7. Blue-sky your new design, contrary to previous comments I think the site look bloomin 'orrible

Good luck

Cheers, Prime ...

Merlyn

Guru

Posts: 1143

Loc: Oregon

3+ Months Ago

righteous_trespasser wrote:

First things first ... I think it would be good if you move the content to the middle of the page, instead of the left hand side ...

I agree, I think it would be better if the layout were centered instead of on the left hand side.

I like your banner. I think you did an excellent job with the site.

Sheepdip

Student

Posts: 75

Loc: Castle Anthrax

3+ Months Ago

It's my opinion, but I don't get a few of the marketing plugs on the site. I work more on the interactive marketing side, so my first criticisms are less about structure, and more about flow.

I'd say the first thing to remove would be the "tell a friend" link. This isn't a "look at this neat news article, mom" site, this is a corporate website that is trying to acquire new, monthly subscribers. Business people don't want anything that wastes their time, and business people don't waste time telling others about ways that they can spend money, especially on sites that don't offer a clear proposition (which leads me to...).

This site is unclear in it's proposition. What is this, an ISP? A new portal? It's so unclear what a "I searched for you when I searched for CRM software" user is supposed to do. Sell your service, don't be shy, don't hold back. (remember, business people don't want to waste time)

If this were my project I'd start with:

1. What is my critical path? (e.g. Google, homepage, more information, signup, payment info)
2. What sets us apart and makes our product worthwhile?
3. Remove everything that doesn't apply to 1 and 2
4. Develop supporting information for #2 (e.g. what will people want to know about us when they don't trust our proposition or aren't convinced that we are legit?)
5. etc. etc.

One more thought... Another object stuck out to me as useless on the homepage... I've never heard of any of your customers. When you have such a graphic, it might be much more useful to say "Serving more than 5,290 companies" until you've actually sold to someone worth mentioning... then develop a case study around them and single them out (give them something in return if you have to).

I hope this helps. Best wishes on the next version.

p.s. I'm also the technical administrator for a CRM installation covering about 70 locations in U.S. & Canada. I've been through CRM research as a paying customer, so I took a particular interest in your post because you were trying to reach people like me.

jai

Novice

Posts: 20

3+ Months Ago

righteous_trespasser wrote:

...and how do I get back to the other pages from the news page, I don't see any links ...

thanks! this is a very good point and has been overlooked, thanks for pointing it out

jai

Novice

Posts: 20

3+ Months Ago

CXLink wrote:

Is this the redesigned site or the site you want to redesign? Other then doing the center align thing like RT suggested I like the look and feel.

well that's nice, thanks

jai

Novice

Posts: 20

3+ Months Ago

webia wrote:

The general idea is that the website looks very professional, very corporate.It has a very good structure, you find easily what you are looking for. What I do not like though is that default blue color for links. try to figure out some other color.

I suppose you have a lot of traffic, so you should consider switching to XHTML to decrease traffic costs, and make the website load faster.

A small detail I really like to corporate sites these days is a website icon, which you do not have.

thank you, this is very helpful.

jai

Novice

Posts: 20

3+ Months Ago

Prime wrote:

Hey,

I'm assuming this is the site you are about to redesign so, as requested i'm going be critical ... please don't hate me just trying to help ...

1. Don't use a table driven layout, amateur. CSS is far more powerful.2. The flash logo with grass, weeds and yellow thingys flying across the screen ... what's that all about 3. Create a proper XML sitemap as per Google/MSN/Yahoo specification4. Develop using an MVC framework not OO5. Turn your news page into an RSS feed.6. Use 'A' records for your sub domains7. Blue-sky your new design, contrary to previous comments I think the site look bloomin 'orrible

Good luck

Cheers, Prime ...

ok ouch! but THIS is what im talking about! great on ya will take your comments into account. thanks so much

jai

Novice

Posts: 20

3+ Months Ago

Sheepdip wrote:

It's my opinion, but I don't get a few of the marketing plugs on the site. I work more on the interactive marketing side, so my first criticisms are less about structure, and more about flow.

I'd say the first thing to remove would be the "tell a friend" link. This isn't a "look at this neat news article, mom" site, this is a corporate website that is trying to acquire new, monthly subscribers. Business people don't want anything that wastes their time, and business people don't waste time telling others about ways that they can spend money, especially on sites that don't offer a clear proposition (which leads me to...).

This site is unclear in it's proposition. What is this, an ISP? A new portal? It's so unclear what a "I searched for you when I searched for CRM software" user is supposed to do. Sell your service, don't be shy, don't hold back. (remember, business people don't want to waste time)

If this were my project I'd start with:

1. What is my critical path? (e.g. Google, homepage, more information, signup, payment info)2. What sets us apart and makes our product worthwhile?3. Remove everything that doesn't apply to 1 and 24. Develop supporting information for #2 (e.g. what will people want to know about us when they don't trust our proposition or aren't convinced that we are legit?)5. etc. etc.

One more thought... Another object stuck out to me as useless on the homepage... I've never heard of any of your customers. When you have such a graphic, it might be much more useful to say "Serving more than 5,290 companies" until you've actually sold to someone worth mentioning... then develop a case study around them and single them out (give them something in return if you have to).

I hope this helps. Best wishes on the next version.

thank you so much these are really helpful

john5269

Graduate

Posts: 198

3+ Months Ago

The only thing that could be improved is having the site centered in the browser, other than that everything looks professional and I like the logo and the way the grass moves. It looks like a real refreshing site with the brease blowing.

jai

Novice

Posts: 20

3+ Months Ago

Prime wrote:

2. The flash logo with grass, weeds and yellow thingys flying across the screen ... what's that all about

and the way the grass moves. It looks like a real refreshing site with the brease blowing.

i guess there's no pleasing everybody, huh

john5269

Graduate

Posts: 198

3+ Months Ago

I don't quite know about the yellow things. They may be a little to much and may make your eyes focus on them and not the actual content of the site itself. I mean't the grass and the way that it moves, it feels as if they wind is blowing it. It moves, but it is not very noticable which is good as you can focus on the actual content.

jai

Novice

Posts: 20

3+ Months Ago

john5269 wrote:

I don't quite know about the yellow things. They may be a little to much and may make your eyes focus on them and not the actual content of the site itself. I mean't the grass and the way that it moves, it feels as if they wind is blowing it. It moves, but it is not very noticable which is good as you can focus on the actual content.

o haha, my bad..but still thanks. you've pointed out something that could use a little work

Timothy

Born

Posts: 3

3+ Months Ago

looks good keep up the hard work

Prime

Professor

Posts: 934

Loc: Liverpool

3+ Months Ago

Well, I'm afraid I remain unconvinced by the yellow thingys ... although purple wotsits on a pink background may look good Your choice